Malaya, Apr. 3, 2019, Budget Row Bickering Turns Into Name-calling.pdf

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Insight

Wednesday, APril 3' 2019

Budget row: Bickering turns into name-calling BY RAY IOI{D AFRICA ANd WET{DELL VIGILIA

SENATE President Vicente Sotto yesi:rday called the leadership of the House of Reptesentati.es "delusionaf i fcit its daim tlvit the Senate

III

sabotaged infrastructue progtams of President Duterte when it made amendmens to the 2019 proposed national budget while it was still being deLiberated on the floor sotto, in a text message seot to the Senate media, reiterated that the sabotage allegation is a desperate move of the House to colNince

President Dutette not to veto fealignments made by conglessmen to tlie General Appropriations Bill (GAB) after it was ratified by the.

bicameral conference committee on February 8. "Detusional na yata (I\4aybe they are becoming delusional). It's theit last-ditch effort to infiuence the President not to veto their illegal realignments," Sotto said,

At

the House, Rep. Rolando A-nSee

BUDGET

)

Paee 83

BUDGET daya (PDP-Laban, Camarines Sur)

said Sottq instead

of

resorting to

name-calli:rg, should just identiS his colleagues vho made cuts in the Build, Build, Build budget for 2079. "Novr is also the time for him to rcveal the names of all sena tors 'who made budget cuts and show the items whete drese wete

realigned," said Andaya, chair of the House committee on appropdations, A-ndaya has accused the Senate

of

real.igning items

wotth about

P80 billion il the P3.757-trillion ptoposed national budget for this year, which he said could sabotage the admioistiation's priority infrastluctu:re Programs and projects.

proponents." On Aadaya's challenge to reveal dre senators who made the budget cuts, Sorto said all amendments 'were lecotded.

"Read the Senate tourdal dufing the period of interpellation. We do ours (amendments) oo the floor. And we did it before the bicam and rati€cation. Not aftet tatificadon 6ecause) that's i.llegal," he said.

Sotto reiterated that vrhat the House amendments to the GAB were illegal, and the accusation hutled by Andaya was intended to put the Senate in a bad Jighr. 'As I said, it's their last-ditch effort to influence the Ptesident in not vetoing thei illegal realignmeots. Thev can inveat all they 'wantr 'we wtll correct every*ring

T,acson said it is the House which is trling to cripple Build programs when it slashed P72.319

billion ftom the DPWHT major 6nal output 1 and 2.

Lacson lvas also accused of

introducing "individual

reaLign

ments" irr the proposed national

budget during the bicam, but denied they were individual re.aligoments. He said those were institutionalrealignments made on the rcquest of an agency. He came out rvitl details of his irrstiturional amendments, which can be found in his website (pingiacson.net). Rep. Luis R-aymond Villafuerte [rJP, Camatirres Sut) said t1re continued implementation of the 201 8

teenacted budget has forced the

Duterte administratioo to put on

He said Sotto, by calling the

once they ale gooe. Paano ko

hold or under-spend on its priodty

House "delusional," only resorted to oamelca]liog aod "language engineering" in a bid to 'idivert public attention from the drastic budget cuts imposed by the Senate on the

maturing delusional eh, sila nag-

Programs. He accused Andaya of " subverting democracy" for allegedly leading efforts to realign some items in the 2019 budget after it was ratifred by both houses. Viliafuerte has said the realign

ilmbent{ {Why did

I

say deiu sional? It's because they are making up things)," he added. The Senate and HOR have been trading accusations of irregularities in the 2019 proposed national budget after it was ratified. Sen- Panflo Lacson eadier dis-

President's major inftastructure ptojects aid socia.l programs." He also said Sotto "need not consult the dictionary in search of more pompous v'otds" "A.ll he has to do is explain to the public why the Senate slashed the

budget not only of Build, Build, Build projects, but also of pen sion fot unifotmed personnel ald retitement benefits of govetnment employees," Andaya said. Andaya earlier said details of the reductions were not 6:lly discussed in the bicameral conference meetings because "senators uoilatetally decided oo the budget cuts and

closed the budget realignments

and health ptojects.

made by t}le House for congress, men close to Speaker Glotia Arroyo, but the House has been saying it only itemized lump sum funds. On the accusatioo that the Senate unilaterally temoved bilLons

'qff/hat happened was not der::'ocr cy at work but a ua\-esty of the Constitution as Andaya

of

pesos intended for right of of the pubiic works depatment, Lacson last month

way projects

said the actual amount deleted rr,'as

P20

realigned them to other items based on request of indir.idual

bilion "and upon

the DPVTH

reconmendation saying they don't need

tt

ments has teached P92 billion, mosdy in oudays for public works

it."

feodl P&€u

and his

ilk

monkeyed around

vrith t}le GAB at tlle onset of the three month recess, in violation of Art \4, Sec 26 (2) of the 1987 Coostitution, which states that, 'Upon the last teadiag of a bill, no amendments thereto shall be allowed and the vote thereon shall be taken irnmediately theteafter, and the yeas and oays entered in *re Joumal,"' he said,